On This Date in Minnesota History: April 1

April 1, 1901 – “I am guilty, but the others had nothing to do with it.”

This is the plea made by Thomas White at Waseca, Minn., after being sentenced to five years in Stillwater.

White was captured in Minneapolis last Nov. after he had been shot in the head. In his address to the court he referred to his pals, William Hartman, arrested near Waseca, and James S. Stanfield, alias “New York Jimmie,” who was taken into custody in Minneapolis by Detective Hicks. Each of the men was given five years for blowing a safe in a Waseca store.

The officers say that the men had each agreed that the man first to be sentenced should admit his guilt that the judge might lighten the terms of the others. White’s plea had no effect on the court, however.

Sheriff Frank Collins and a deputy took the three men to Stillwater today, and this evening stopped in Minneapolis. The sheriff is glad to be rid of such desperate characters. A month ago they had their plans completed for a jail break, which was discovered just in time.

The prisoners had made keys from the backs of two hair combs, and had their doors unlocked when the deputy discovered the plot. It was their intention to leave their cells during the night, and to dig their way through a brick wall to the outside.

The Minneapolis Tribune; “’I am Guilty.’ Thomas White, Sentenced With Comrades At Waseca, Makes a Bold Assertion.”; April 2, 1901; p. 5.

http://www.lakesnwoods.com/Waseca.htm

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